I feel it's my duty to warn others like me looking for a weekend getaway to King's Canyon that this is probably not the camping experience you're looking for.

I visit national parks frequently for hiking and lowkey car camping, and was expecting the same here. This was my first truly bad experience with an NPS campground.

The entire campground was on party mode from 9am until at least 2 am. There was music in all directions, campsites packed with cars and visitors. We were woken up many times each night after 11pm--and I sleep with earplugs. I understand the car alarms throughout the night were to scare off bears(?) although it was hard to tell as one instance our neighbors were just pulling a prank to scare their friend. Someone started sawing wood with an electric saw around 11:30pm and kept at it for almost 30 minutes without the ranger coming by to enforce quiet hours. Another campsite next to us had about a dozen people drinking and listening to music past 2am, walking through our campsite with flashlights, shining them into our tent, joking and talking loudly....rather than exit to the road via their site, it seemed?

On Sunday morning, one of the two women's restroom stalls was closed after someone vomited on the floor.

This was clearly a different sort of camping crowd--and definitely not a good match for my crew that was expecting to sleep before midnight and hike super early to beat the heat of the day, and spend time vibing with nature. The crowd here had zero respect for the campground or other campers.

And a last word of caution--the heat WAS almost unbearable during the afternoon--my thermometer registered 100 in the shade. However, the river has so many great spots to hang, swim, and cool down, and the store at the hotel sells bags of ice and refreshments.

I couldn't tell if Moraine or Sentinel were calmer spots--but I would NOT return to Sheep's Creek unless I were to stay in the sites along the South Fork river that are sort of tucked away.

It seems that many campers use Cedar Grove as a launching point for pack-in camping, which would be a great way to get into nature.

However, in lieu of backpacking, I think that next time I'd stay in Grant Grove and only drive down into the canyon for a hike and a swim.

I hope this helps someone plan a perfect trip to King's Canyon. Don't forget your swimsuit!